Cuttings
by wowsugarpuss
Summary: Logan and Veronica's relationship as seen through the press. AU futurefic.


1.

Veronica thinks that if there had been video footage of her and Logan playing spin-the-bottle or some equally stupid teenage drinking game then it probably would have been pulled out of the vault and onto national TV. Every photograph with the two of them standing next to each other proclaims a 'young love'. Pictures of _only_ the two of them declare the 'hidden truth' behind their relationship.

And Veronica wouldn't mind, but three years ago outside the Camelot Motel was honestly the first time she had ever kissed Logan Echolls. The funny thing is, there are no pictures, no story, no evidence about that. She's glad.

2.

There's one picture of Logan that everybody has seen. He's in a club – underage – with a drink in one hand and a cigarette in the other, surrounded by trashy, glamorous people. He's laughing so hard his head is thrown back and there is a blonde girl – not the one he's usually seen with – curled under his arm ready to steal that cigarette and take a draw herself.

That is how the world sees Logan Echolls. Veronica suddenly feels very glad that she knows him personally because it means she can hate him legitimately for behaving like an ass.

That's pretty close to what she says when she barges into his apartment during her first year of college and throws the newspaper at him, still in bed nursing his hang-over. Veronica knows that it's stupid to have sex with the curtains open – even on the second floor – but somehow that's what ends up happening and by the time they finish Logan's headache is gone but she's still so angry she could scream.

3.

They apparently have a few pregnancy scares in their time together. One particularly unflattering picture of her shows Veronica slouching, Logan's standing behind her and the hand on her waist is extended slightly over her stomach. Soon she's pregnant and one magazine is already speculating names.

Veronica doesn't know whether to be more offended by the fact they think she's pregnant or that she would name a child Bradley. Logan laughs at her, insists she's not fat. He's actually sweet about the whole thing and she remembers why it annoys her so much for other people to judge him.

4.

Logan is a little like the male Paris Hilton. People hate him for a lot of reasons without actually knowing him. They hate him because they're jealous, because he says horribly inappropriate things in public, because he's been arrested for underage drunkenness more than anyone thought possible, because he's dating the girl who sent Aaron Echolls to death row.

Veronica doesn't think it's fair because Logan does a lot of stupid things in public that he regrets in private. He's famous for being famous. He's always had a certain amount of fame, ever since he first appeared in the tabloids aged one and a half days old. But now he's not just on the peripheral, he's not famous because of who he's related to – now he's a tragic wild-child and he gets photographed because he parties too hard and bad-mouths his controversial father.

5.

Eventually Duncan stops showing up in pictures with them; it would just hurt his career to be seen with Logan. Logan is pissed about it and Veronica can understand but she takes Duncan's side on the issue every time – no matter who she's dating – because, as she tells Logan, if he's going to act like an idiot then he's going to lose people. She doesn't think he takes her seriously and that annoys her more than she's willing to admit because as long as she's with Logan she can't be seen with Duncan either.

When she phones her dad on the weekends and he begs her to come home and hide out for a while, to let everything die down after Logan's latest escapade she realizes that Logan doesn't realize how much she gives up to be with him. She avoids him for three days after that and cries the next time she sees him. Luckily for her they weren't in public and so the only pictures of that episode are of the making-up.

6.

There is a picture of them together, hands clasped between them. Logan's wearing dark glasses and she has her head down, a baseball cap on and her other hand wrapped around Backup's leash. He's touted as the infamous movie heir bad-boy whereas she is the long-term on-off girlfriend to said bad-boy.

It took Veronica three months after the trial to get used to the fact that if she was with Logan she would be photographed. Before he was only usually harassed by photographers if he was in LA, things changed and Veronica discovered that it was not a good idea to answer the front door in your pajamas.

There is another picture three months later that is so similar she almost has to squint, but he's wearing Diesel jeans (and although they've been together for years she still can't contemplate wearing $300 jeans) and his shirt isn't Ralph Lauren. And a tiny glint – magnified by in-set close-up – shows the four carat spot the difference on her left hand.

7.

Logan's long estranged sister turns up out of obscurity when he gets engaged. Happy family times it seems and the vintage pictures of the two of them flipping off photographers outside their Neptune abode are suddenly valuable again. Veronica will never understand why Trina has such a hard time cashing in on the Echolls name, maybe just because she's not Lynn's daughter, maybe because everyone was focused on the spectacle that was Logan and his never ending attention seeking. Or possibly Trina just tried too hard, either way Veronica was jealous of how little the paparazzi cared about Trina on her own. Veronica declines photo shoots from numerous magazines, ignores Trina's jealousy and tells Logan that she's keeping her own name.

He shrugs, seems kind of hurt, but she thinks he understands.

8.

Someone that looks a lot like Veronica is photographed with one of Logan's friends. It's a call back to the her high school days when she's branded a cheating, lying slut – which is ironic really considering how everything turns out. It doesn't take her long to track down this 'friend' and how much he got paid for the exclusive story. He may have been paid for the story but she makes sure he pays for it as well. Retractions all round but she's still held with the distain appropriate for an 'unknown' dating one of the Hollywood gossip scene's favorite people.

9.

The paparazzi pictures make it look like she's had her engagement ring on and off God knows how many times. In reality she's only ever taken the ring off three times – the last one being when Logan cheated on her and she told him explicitly that they would never get married.

Now she wears it on the ring finger of her right hand, and people would ask Logan why if they ever had a reason or chance to interview him about it. But he's difficult to pin down when questions about Veronica come out. Eventually a tacky entertainment channel catches up with her, but she can't seem to explain. It's difficult to put into words what it's like to lose your first love. She keeps on wearing the ring on the wrong hand.

Logan has never hinted at her giving it back, telling her straight that it's hers whether or not she wants to accept the sentiment behind it: that he loves her. Veronica tells him that she never doubted that but she also makes it very clear that she will not make the same mistake her father did. She will _not_ marry someone who is going to turn into her mother. Logan knows all about Veronica's issues with her mother, so that _must_ sting.

10.

Logan has never been in rehab – although certain 'reputable' sources claim this is his third stint. Veronica knows – even though they aren't together – that he doesn't have a drinking problem, never has. Logan is a binge drinker, and although that makes him do and say some stupid things, it's never really caused any irreparable damage to anything other than their relationship.

The public find it strange that she never has a bad word to say about the boy she fell in love with who grew into a man that cheated on her – but Veronica can't find it in herself to hate Logan. It would take too much work, too much bitterness and to be honest she can understand why he acts the way he does. She was just unlucky enough to be a casualty of his inner conflict.

Truthfully Logan is hiding out in a small Caribbean island, and it probably won't be long before the press find that out too. Veronica presses her postcard into a corkboard along with the other four.


End file.
